INNISFAIL - PENHOLD – Local residents in Penhold and Innisfail gathered over the weekend to honour all veterans and thank them for their sacrifice and service to Canada.
More than 150 Penhold veterans, residents, guests, dignitaries and town officials observed Remembrance Day in a service Friday evening (Nov. 10) at the Penhold Regional Multiplex.
“Penhold has a rich history with the former CFB Penhold here and we have a ton of Penhold families (who served in the wars),” said Mayor Mike Yargeau. “It's really important as a town to observe Remembrance Day and since we've been fortunate to have this cenotaph it gives us that opportunity to honour those people.”
Yargeau spoke of several current veterans attending Friday's service that have served in other wars and those who have served in the Canadian military.
One such veteran is Peter Amontagne. He grew up in Penhold in the 1950s and served at CFB Penhold for a number of years.
Amontagne said it was good for the town to have their own cenotaph and memorial to Penhold's fallen soliders.
“It helps the people of Penhold remember their ancestors and their sacrifice.”
In Innisfail, hundreds from across the region gathered at the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion, and at the cenotaph to honour the fallen.
The Innisfail Remembrance Day service included guest speaker Bobbi Foulds, the Alberta/North West Territories command magazine representative from Edson.
Foulds travelled to France and Belgium earlier this year with representatives from legions across Canada after she was chosen to represent the province as part of the 2017 Royal Canadian Legion Pilgrimage of Remembrance.
“We travelled through (the countries) and followed the Canadian battles from both world wars. We visited all of the major sites as well as many off the grid,” she said, noting such places as Juno Beach, Passchendaele, and Flanders Fields.
The 15-day tour took place from the end of July to mid-August.
Foulds, 42, said the experience, which she shared at Innisfail's Remembrance Day service on Saturday, gave her a greater appreciation and understanding of the sacrifice many Canadians made overseas, both past and present.
It was a trip she was honoured and humbled to participate in and share with the people of Innisfail.
“It was life changing,” said Foulds. “Every place we went there was a major battle, major loss, major courage and heroics.
“This trip made history come alive for me,” she added.
“It's our job to make sure that we teach our children everything about our history so they don't make the same mistakes we did,” explained Foulds. “We have to remember and we have to fight for our veterans that are still here.”
Bobbi Foulds, legion member
"We have to remember and we have to fight for our veterans that are still here."
